Brother
by Misfit Writer
Summary: When Clay is left adrift by his father's implications and seeing Stella again, his brothers remind him that his true family will never abandon him.


So I've been on a huge NEEDTOBREATHE kick since seeing their acoustic concert last weekend, and their song Brother has been one of the ones playing on repeat. It made me think of SEAL Team, of Clay and the way he's been abandoned by everyone outside of Bravo. So this is a series of snippets of the team reminding him that the Brotherhood will never abandon him set to the lyrics of aforementioned amazing song.

_**Ramblers in the wilderness we can't find what we need**_

_**We get a little restless from the searching**_

_**Get a little worn down in between**_

_**Like a bull chasing the matador is the man left to his own schemes**_

_**Everybody needs someone beside em' shining like a lighthouse from the sea **_

Jason glanced up when he entered the cages, surprised to see that he'd been beaten there by the youngest team member. Clay seemed to be rearranging his cage, tucking clothes away on his shelves. "Morning, Spenser...early start, yeah?"

The way he startled rose alarms in Jason's mind; SEALs weren't exactly the easiest types to surprise. Sure, it was early in the morning, but he knew Clay had a consistent routine in the morning that would have him awake and alert. Taking a closer look, Jason noticed the kid's hammock hooked to the corner of his cage. Clay turned, saw the direction of his gaze, and sidestepped in front of it. "Y-yeah...I-uh…"

"Did you sleep here?" Clay didn't answer, instead running his hand through his hair nervously. "Is there something going on with your apartment? You could've given me a call, man…" He knew it was more than that if the younger man was so...jumpy, but he knew he was missing something.

Hesitant blue eyes studied him for a moment before Clay seemed to decide to open up about what was on his mind. "Nah, man, I just...I ran into Stella before we spun up and my apartment was just too quiet last night, ya know?"

"Ouch," the team leader hissed, understanding the notion all too well. "How was seeing her again?"

Clay shrugged, squaring away the last of his things. "Not really sure yet, to be honest. I think that's why I just came here last night...here seems to be the one place where things make sense right now." He sent Jason a wry smile. "I'll figure it out."

As the blonde passed, Jason settled a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "If you need to talk through anything, you know where I am, Kid." Clay nodded, and Jason allowed him to continue on to the gym.

_**Brother, let me be your shelter**_

_**Never leave you all alone**_

_**I can be the one you call**_

_**When you're low**_

_**Brother, let me be your fortress**_

_**When the night winds are driving on**_

_**Be the one to light the way**_

_**Bring you home**_

"Hey Spense, man got a sec?" Ray called as he approached his teammate, passing Sonny and Davis as they left the table to dance. Clay gestured to the seat Sonny had just abandoned with an easy smile and took a long drink from his beer. Ray hated the thought that he might erase that contentment from his brother. "I, uh...I ran into Stella at the store, found out she's living in town now."

Clay dropped his chin to his chest with a sigh before looking back up, and Ray was able to see that he'd already known. "Yeah...I ran into her myself, right before we spun up last week. Thanks for giving me the heads up, though."

"I didn't want to have to tell you, but I'd rather that than you get blindsided if I could've helped it." It was the thought, right? "How are you doing with that?"

Clay shrugged, drew another pull of beer, and this time his smile was not quite so genuine. "It caught me off-guard when I first saw her, haven't really felt right at my apartment since, but I'm figuring it out. I stopped going to our usual spots and haven't run into her yet, so it'll be what it'll be I guess."

Ray didn't like the thought of Clay being so disoriented by the fact that he now had to worry about running into Stella. "You know our couch is-"

"Clay! Hey, kiddo, thought I might catch you here!"

The voice that interrupted them had Clay rolling his eyes, and the heavy hand that came down on his shoulder had the blonde flinching. Ray tensed and rose to his feet, eyes shifting to the elder Spenser. "We haven't met, Ashland...but your reputation certainly precedes you. Senior Chief Ray Perry," he supplied, though he didn't move when Ash offered a hand to shake. "Might I offer a word of advice?" Still somewhat oblivious to the fact that the man before him was not being friendly, Ash nodded, only mildly put off by Ray's stoicism. "You'd be wise to leave now, before the rest of the team realizes that you're here. None of us trust you, and believe me when I tell you that _I_ am the most level-headed when alcohol is involved. And trust me...there has been plenty of it tonight."

The elder Spenser floundered for a moment, looking to Clay and finding his son staring down at his beer. Ray crossed his arms over his chest and raised an expectant brow, eyes leaving Ash only long enough to locate the rest of the team. With a disbelieving huff, Ash raised his hands in surrender and was gone. Clay finally looked up to meet his 2IC's gaze, and Ray found himself tempted to follow Ash out into the night for the vulnerability in his blue eyes. They nodded wordlessly to one another, and Ray tapped his beer bottle lightly against his younger teammate's.

_**Face down in the desert now there's a cage locked around my heart**_

_**I found a way to drop the keys where my failures were**_

_**Now my hands can't reach that far**_

_**I ain't made for a rivalry I could never take the world alone**_

_**I know that in my weakness I am strong, but**_

_**It's your love that brings me home**_

"Spenser, if you don't stop squirming I'm going to friggin' sedate you," Trent growled as he pinned his injured teammate's shoulder down, using the move to immobilize and apply pressure simultaneously. "They've got the situation under control, which they would've been able to do in another couple of minutes if you hadn't gone all _self-sacrifice _and gotten yourself _shot_!"

"There were-"

"They've got every exit covered, kid. Hey, Clay, look at me." The medic waited until the younger man complied. "Stand down, let me patch you up." The command finally seemed to sink in, and Trent eased up on his grip so that he could focus on tending to the through-and-through in Clay's shoulder. "What the hell were you thinking, exposing yourself like that?"

He wasn't really expecting a reply, but the one he got spoke volumes - both in his words and tone. "Couldn't get a warning out fast enough, and better me than any one of you," Clay muttered, finally allowing his head to drop back to the ground with a _thunk_. Trent's hands stilled for a moment until blue eyes gazed up at him.

"Okay, I'm going to say this once, and you're going to listen, got it?" Trent had to take a slow breath to ease his simmering anger. "If I _ever_ hear that 'better me than you' bullshit again, I will kick your ass and then let Sonny take the second shot. You are _not _expendable, Clay."

The younger man hissed through his teeth when Trent was somewhat rougher than necessary. "Tell that - _easy, _Trent! - tell that to my father…" Clay pounded his clenched fist against the ground as the medic applied a bandage over the front and tugged his shoulder to access the exit wound. He tried to feel bad about causing his teammate pain, but Trent couldn't help the anger coming through.

"I'd like to think you recognize that your father is an _ass_. Did you ever stop to think what your little act of self sacrifice would do to your team? Your _brothers_?" Clay stared up at him, guilt and a touch of grief shining in his eyes. He knew the younger man was likely remembering the feeling of almost losing Sonny. _Good, maybe he'd finally get it._ "You're not just a member of some team, Spense. We are a _family_. We need each other, out here and at home. So like I said," he set a gloved hand against the side of Clay's neck. "You're not expendable, brother."

Clay nodded solemnly, and Trent got back to work as the sound of their brothers wrapping up the firefight and calling for their status reached them.

_**Brother, let me be your shelter**_

_**Never leave you all alone**_

_**I can be the one you call**_

_**When you're low**_

_**Brother, let me be your fortress**_

_**When the night winds are driving on**_

_**Be the one to light the way**_

_**Bring you home**_

Brock followed his dog out into the cool night, and smiled wryly when he saw where Cerberus ended up. Clay started scratching behind the dog's ear without looking away from the fire. His arm was still secure in its sling, something that surprised the canine handler; he'd given Trent a hard time on the flight home about making him wear the sling, so all of Bravo had been on alert to make him put it back on if they caught him without it. Jason had restricted Clay to base while he healed, though Brock got the impression that it wasn't much of an imposition.

"Finding the answers to life in that fire, Spense?"

"Somethin' like that," Clay murmured.

Brock dropped into the seat next to his teammate and stared into the fire, giving him a moment before speaking again. "So what's the fire telling you tonight?"

The blonde sighed before answering. "That maybe I'm not meant to be a SEAL and have love." Brock finally turned and looked at him, confused. Clay ran a hand through his hair. "I ran into Stella. Seeing her just...brought things into perspective I guess. Reminded me that nothing mattered more than the team."

"You don't think we are capable of having both?" Not that Brock could argue much, considering he hadn't had a serious relationship since Green Team...but he also wasn't looking for one. With Stella, Clay had seemed like he'd have stuck it out.

"I mean look at our team. Ray's the _only one_ capable of holding down a family...and that's because his wife is a damn superhero. I guess...I guess it's just got me wondering if being a SEAL dooms us to a life of broken relationship and loneliness."

Brock studied Clay's face, unable to discern exactly where his thoughts were taking him. "If it does...the team still worth it?"

"Always," Spenser answered firmly, finally seeming to snap out of his trance. "Like I said, seeing Stella brought that into focus for me. You guys are my family, and she wasn't prepared to come second. Who's to say that's not how it'll always be?"

"I dunno, brother...but I can promise you that you'll never be without _family_. Might get lonely when we're home sometimes, but you can always call me, Sonny, Trent…" Clay grinned over at him, and Brock glared when the blonde reached for the strap of his sling. "Oh ho ho, no you don't pretty boy. I am your brother and you know I've always got your back, but don't think for a second I won't rat you out to Trent if you take that thing off."

_**And when you call and need me near**_

_**Sayin' where'd you go?**_

_**Brother, I'm right here**_

_**And on those days when the sky begins to fall**_

_**You're the blood of my blood**_

_**We can get through it all**_

"Has anyone seen Spenser? He hasn't responded to my texts or answered my calls all morning," Jason called as he entered the gym where the rest of the team - minus their youngest - was working out. They all glanced at one another, stopped what they were doing and collectively shook their heads.

"What's up, Jase?" Ray questioned.

"Another late night interview with Ash last night about a last minute addition that he's putting into his book before it gets released...he talked about the Korea fiasco. Never outright names Clay, but…"

"But it's enough to implicate him for sharing top secret information about a highly classified mission...son of a _bitch!_" Sonny punched the bag in front of him as hard as he could, not nearly satisfied by the hit thanks to the cushioning of his gloves. "I'll fucking _kill him_ with my bare hands if I ever see that asshole. What is Blackburn saying?"

"Blackburn is too busy hunting down the real leak to say much. Just that we need to keep an eye on Clay, preferably on base so that he's not blindsided if they decide they want him in custody before this blows up. So we need to track him down, make sure he's okay, and bring him here. We'll stay with him as long as we can. I'm heading to his apartment now." The defeated tone of their leader's voice only fueled Sonny's rage, and he tore his gloves off and left them on the floor.

"Whoever finds him, text the rest of us. I'll look here on base." Sonny didn't bother waiting to hear where the others were headed; knowing Clay, he'd be somewhere alone...but he wouldn't risk the Navy thinking he'd taken off and making his situation even worse. The kid was somewhere within the confines of the base.

Sonny wasn't entirely surprised to find the young SEAL on the barracks roof, and he was just glad that the kid was far from the edge. "You looking to put a hole in the ceiling? Cause I'm pretty sure you've already worn that patch down pretty well, Goldilocks."

Clay barely glanced up at him, shaking his head and clenching his fists repeatedly as he paced. The energy reminded him of a caged animal. "Not now, Quinn," he growled. _Fitting. _Sonny discreetly pulled out his phone to let Jason know the kid was safe.

"Exactly now, Spenser. You've got the whole team out lookin' for you."

He scoffed, but finally stopped to face his teammate head-on. "Wouldn't exactly be smart of me to look like I went AWOL right about now, would it?" Clay gripped his hair and leaned back against the wall. "Sonny, I didn't-"

"Brother, if you finish that sentence, I will knock you out. Didn't think you'd been the blabbermouth before, sure as hell don't think it now." He watched the younger man drop his head back against the bricks, and wished that he could wring elder Spenser's neck in that moment. Before Clay could smack his head against the wall, Sonny reached forward and grabbed his shoulders. "We know you didn't do this, Clay."

"Tell that to the cake-eaters who are probably ready for my head on a pike...he set me up perfectly." Blue eyes reflected desperation and panic. "First he sets it up to meet publicly when the interviews break about the Saudi mission. Not supposed to be public knowledge, but not a big enough deal for them to do anything about it. Enough to connect me to the bastard's book. Then...then when he comes out with the info about the Korea mission, they've already got me in the back of their minds. So of course they're going to look to me. Of _course_ I'd gloat about my missions to the father I could never please. Of course…" His breath hitched, and tears filled his eyes. Sonny moved his hands to either side of Clay's face.

"This isn't on you, Clay. Which means it is on someone else, and believe me when I tell you we will not rest until we find the son of a bitch. Bravo isn't going to let this go down without a fight."

Clay gripped Sonny's wrists tightly, breaths becoming short and erratic. "And if you can't find them? Sonny...when we almost lost you on that mission...I-I don't think I'd ever been so scared. You were right...this team, this brotherhood is the best thing that's ever happened to me. I'd been toying with the idea of giving it up for someone who wasn't even prepared to stand by me...and now? Now I'm going to lose it anyway for something I didn't even do. For...for what, Son? What the hell did I do to Ash that he's willing to get me thrown in Leavenworth?" A tear slid down his cheek as he rambled, and Sonny tugged him forward to press their foreheads together.

"Breathe, Clay. Your father is not your family. _We_ are your family. He's a fucking worthless piece of shit who _is not going to win_, do you hear me? Family doesn't do what he's done...family protects one another, come what may. We will not let you fall, brother." Sonny didn't let the younger man go until he'd taken a few shuddering breaths and nodded his understanding.

_**Brother, let me be your shelter**_

_**Never leave you all alone**_

_**I can be the one you call**_

_**When you're feelin' low**_

_**Brother, let me be your fortress**_

_**When the night winds are driving on**_

_**Be the one to light the way**_

_**Bring you home**_

The court martial hearing was something of a blur to Clay. After his conversation on the roof with Sonny, it hadn't taken long for him to be taken into custody by the MP's. His entire team had been with him, sitting outside of their cages as they'd told Blackburn they would be. They were sharing beers and swapping stories, waiting out what they all knew would be inevitable.

His brothers rose with him when the time came, silently supporting him the only way they could. Their commander and Ellis had been MIA at the time, and it wasn't until the trial a week later that he understood why; with his brothers and members of support, Alpha and Charlie standing for him, Commander Blackburn presented evidence of the true leak. A member of their support team embittered by what he considered to be the glory that the Operators stole from them.

Clay was floored, overwhelmed with relief and gratitude for the men and women standing on his behalf. He'd had plenty of time during his week detained in Norfolk to think about what his team meant to him; to see the same dedication reflected in the eyes of said team, particularly considering the absence of his own father, brought into sharp focus just how much he'd come to rely on this brotherhood. To be the light in the midst of storms, the fortress around him both in combat and in life...to bring him _home_.


End file.
